The Texas Tour for Tales of the Cocktail is this week. I will be traveling around to major Texas markets with Tales founder Ann Tuennerman, talking up the festival and partaking of no shortage of cocktails. This is a great opportunity to find out more about Tales of the Cocktail and meet some of the brightest brains in the industry. Bartenders and media are invited. Cocktail & Culinary tourists are also encouraged to attend.

Tour Schedule:
Monday 5/9 Cedars Social, Dallas
Tuesday 5/10 Whiskey Cake, Plano
Wednesday 5/11 Esquire Tavern, San Antonio
Thursday 5/12 Haddingtons, Austin
Friday 5/13 Anvil, Houston

Events run 1-3pm and feature Eagle Rare cocktails

My colleague Adam Harris and I drawing the numbers for the raffle prize. Raffle proceeds went to USBG Austin

We recently hosted our annual Derby Day Austin party, and as usual there more casualties than just the wrecked cases of Bourbon. Usually the casualties are of a sartorial nature, and this year was no different. Last time around we saw the suffering of Bill Norris, bar man at Haddington's and owner of a fine vintage seersucker suit that took a beating in the Dizzy Derby (the lesser known cousin of the Kentucky Derby, wherein you are the rider and your mount is a stick horse).

The fillies line up for the Dizzy Derby

My mom came to the party this year. My mom never comes to the party. And she drank Juleps too! But I won't divulge how many (Photo by Gerald Rich)

Paula Angerstein and Paul Grosso of Paula's Texas Spirits (Photo by Gerald Rich)

Graham Wasilition of Tenneyson Absinthe (Photo by Gerald Rich)

This year, Joe and I both invested in new white seersucker suits. Mine was attacked by a rogue mint julep that I had perhaps unwisely placed next to me on the chair swing at Rainlily Farm. Joe's was besieged by a flying piece of chicken from the delicious food trailer at the Grackle. Both suits were rushed to the cleaners on monday morning for emergency care, but I can sadly say that only one emerged fully recovered.

Marshall Wright of EatThisLens.com captured this shot of me dropping my Julep the first time. The perils of texting and drinking...

(Photo by Gerald Rich)
Lara Nixon wrangled all of the student juleps, which were an impressive lot this year

Each year we feature two Julep tents--the first pours the traditional mint julep, and the second showcases experimental juleps from the students of Tipsy Tech, and from various other friends and colleagues in the industry and the community at large.

The show stopper was from San Antonio's Matt Moody, who brought out the liquid nitrogen-frozen julep.

The students did a great job with their "class projects", the recipes for which follow the jump.

Fans of Balcones whiskies, Texas spirits, and bibulous oddities will want to swing by Twin Liquors Marketplace at Hancock Center this Saturday afternoon between 2-5 for the launch of Balcones Brimstone. The latest release from the mind of master distiller Chip Tate, Brimstone is a 100% corn whisky (for whatever reason they decline to utilize the e in whiskey), laced with the smoke of Texas scrub oak. I'd love to indulge you in describing how exactly the smoke flavor impregnates the whiskey, but that information is a tightly kept secret. In other words, I don't know. This product starts out as Baby Blue, the highly regarded corn spirit that took highest honors from Paul Pacult in his Spirit Journal earlier this year--when you taste Brimstone, it is not difficult to tell what its pedigree is. Through some mysterious alchemical process it takes on a smoky flavor that I think is delicious--some cross between a campfire (which I have admittedly never tasted, per se) and a glass of peated scotch (which I have drank my weight in)-- a whiskey with the terroir of the TX Hill Country. This is a profile that will appeal to the drinker who seeks out Islay scotches and funky mezcals. The Balcones folks will be unveiling this new release on Saturday at Twin. Maybe if Chip has enough samples of his own hooch, he'll divulge the secret process behind Brimstone. Not likely, but it'd be fun to try.